Coronial inquest into death of ‘vibrant’ water polo coach Lilie James

CCTV showing the “disturbing” tactics of Lilie James’ killer — including pushing doors to test how quickly he could ambush her in a school bathroom — has been viewed at a coronial inquest.

CCTV footage captured the “disturbing” tactics of Lilie James’ killer Paul Thijssen, showing he planned and calculated how he would ambush the talented water polo in the bathroom of an elite private school.

The videos showed how Thijssen rehearsed how he would kill Ms James on at least three occasions prior to her brutal murder at the St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

Thijssen had brutally beaten Ms James death with a hammer in the bathroom at the elite private school on October 25, 2023.

In the footage, Thijssen is seen pushing doors of bathrooms to test how he could quickly ambush Ms James.

“Your honour, it is submitted that after practising entering both bathrooms, Paul had at this stage decided to attack Lilie in bathroom one,” counsel assisting the NSW Coroner, Jennifer Single SC told the inquest.

Paul Thijssen (left) brutally murdered Lilie James (right). His body was discovered by police more than 8km away.

“We submit that Paul placed the cleaning in progress sign outside of bathroom three to ensure Lilie did not use that bathroom, and to force her into the larger disabled bathroom where the attack in fact occurred,” she said.

It comes as it was revealed Ms James was stalked on social media by Thijssen less than a week before her death.

Ms Single said the footage was both “disturbing’ and “chilling”.

PUSHED INTO A WALL

It comes as a dramatic eight-minute video shown at the NSW Coroners Court on Tuesday revealed Ms James and Thijssen in a “heated argument” at St Andrew’s Cathedral School on October 19, 2023.

The video shows Thijssen grabbing Ms James’ shoulders and pushing her into a wall on school grounds.

Lilie James was found with serious head injuries inside St Andrew’s Cathedral School. Picture: 60 Minutes

The coroner was told the context of the argument was not known.

A day later, Ms James went to a party with her ex-boyfriend Lachlan.

Ms Single said the pair kissed, and agreed to meet up on October 25 — the day Ms James was murdered.

Thijssen was aware Ms James would be at the party with her ex, and “kept checking Lily’s location on Snapchat”.

‘DIDN’T FEEL SAFE’

At the party, Ms James told ex-boyfriend “she didn’t feel safe with (Thijssen) and a bit weirded out by him”.

When Thijssen arrived to pick up Ms James and her friends, he was told Ms James and her ex were together.

The inquest heard for the remainder of the drive Thijssen “appeared annoyed, sour and very quiet”.

The inquest heard in the four days leading up to the murder, Thijssen stalked Ms James on seven occasions — driving to her house in Sydney’s south in a hired car before returning home to Kensington.

On several occasions, he took photographs of cars which were parked outside her family home.

DRY RUNS

Ms Single told the court that Thijssen had stalked Ms James before killing her and carefully planned his attack, including doing several dry runs.

“The preparation was calculated, it was not a momentary loss of control, it was a premeditated killing,” Ms Single said.

A series of images shown to the court revealed that Thijssen captioned the photos with various descriptions of the car.

On another occasion, CCTV captured him driving to Allawah train station, where he stayed for an hour, with further vision showing Ms James getting off at the same station.

Vision played to the court also showed Thijssen buying a hammer and duct tape at a York St hardware store on Monday October 10, 2023.

The hammer was not used by him during the attack, and was later found in a school store room.

The inquest into the deaths of Ms James and Thijssen, 24, who threw himself off a cliff hours after he killed the 21-year-old university student, began on Tuesday.

‘CALCULATED’ KILLING

Ms James was found with serious head injuries inside St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD just before midnight on October 25, 2023, following a welfare check.

Her former boyfriend’s body was discovered by police more than 8km away.

Ms Single told the inquest the killing was calculated.

Paul Thijssen ‘rehearsed’ the killing several times, the inquest was told.

“In the days after [she broke up with him] … the evidence indicates that Paul stalked Lilie, Paul carefully planned his attack, and that in the hours before the attack, he rehearsed the attack, making a number of dry runs,” Ms Single told the court.

“The preparation was calculated. It was not a momentary loss of control. It was a premeditated killing,” she said.

The inquest was told Thijssen had two phones, including an iPhone 8 and 14, one of which was found in his backpack.

The iPhone 14 has never been located.

“Paul disposed of his usual phone, and Lilie’s phone, possibly taking them with him over the cliff at Diamond Bay”, Ms Single said.

Many of their messages were also sent via Snapchat, which automatically deletes messages.

“As a result we only have limited messages between the two,” Ms Single said.

‘SUFFOCATED, CONTROLLED’

The coroner also heard that a former girlfriend of Thijssen’s felt “suffocated” and “controlled” by him, and that when she broke up with him in 2021, he hacked into her Snapchat account and punched a tree above her head.

Before Thijssen returned to the Netherlands for a short period, the woman gave him a set of handmade “vouchers” tied with ribbons for activities to celebrate their four-month anniversary.

The vouchers were later found in his backpack the night he killed Ms James.

The coroner heard that when she removed Thijssen from her social media page and changed her profile photos, she received a barrage of messages and blocked him.

He then hacked into her Snapchat account.

Thijssen was twice spotted peering into the her home, including one morning at 6.25am.

The young woman’s father threatened Thijssen with an intervention order.

“He appeared to be incredibly beside himself, pacing, angry, scared and ashamed,” Ms Single said.

“Paul appeared incredibly beside himself, pacing, angry, scared and ashamed,” Ms Single said.

Peta and Jamie James, the parents of Lilie James, arrive at the inquest on Tuesday. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

The court was also told Thijssen had a history of lying to family and friends about his reason for being in Australia.

Thijssen told them he was there to study a masters in teaching.

His parents gave him money towards his tuition. However, Ms Single revealed he was never enrolled nor touched their money.

He also embellished his role at St Andrews on the school’s letterhead and sent forged pay slips to the Department of Home Affairs to fit the requirements for a working visa.

The inquest also heard Thijssen continued a flirtatious friendship with another woman, whose university hockey team he coached.

In early September 2023, she spent eight hours helping him move house.

She never knew about Ms James.

Yet a Dutch friend of Thijssen’s said, “Paul spoke about Lilie like she was his girlfriend,” the inquest heard. “He FaceTimed her [from a trip to Bali] almost every day for an hour and a half. He looked in love.”

Ms James’ parents, Jamie and Peta, attended the inquest.

Thijssen’s Netherlands-based parents did not, and sent representatives.

The coroner will also hear about the treatment of Thijssen’s other girlfriends – including behaviour such as coercive control, which will be dissected by family violence experts.

The coroner will also attempt to determine whether authorities could have intervened at any point before the pair died.

CCTV footage shows Paul Thijssen at Vaucluse in the hours following the death of Lilie James. Picture: Supplied

Police forensics leave at Diamond Bay, Vaucluse, during the search for Paul Thijssen. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

The inquest, which is set for three days, is into the “manner of death” of both Ms James and Thijssen, who is referred to only by his initials, P.T., on the court’s website.

Thijssen’s parents are not expected to attend the hearings.

Thijssen rang triple-0 himself and told them where to find James, four hours after police believe she was killed.

He could be seen on CCTV at the elite school following her death.

Originally published as Coronial inquest into death of ‘vibrant’ water polo coach Lilie James